Shinobi in a Land of Mages
by justanuncreativedude
Summary: A botched mission sees Team Seven exiled to a foreign land far to the west, a kingdom of warriors known as 'Mages', called Fiore. In order to redeem themselves, the team must complete five tasks set by the council of Fiore. Should they fail any ONE of these, they will be forced to turn in their headbands for good.
1. Chapter 1

**Shinobi in a Land of Mages**

 **A botched mission sees Team Seven exiled to a foreign land far to the west, a kingdom of warriors known as 'Mages', called Fiore. In order to redeem themselves, the team must complete five tasks set by the council of Fiore. Should they fail any ONE of these, they will be forced to turn in their headbands, status, and overall citizenship, for good.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

The Chairman of the magic council, a man by the name of Gran Doma, was sitting in his office, gazing out of his office window overlooking the city of Era, in anticipation. He had received a letter around a week ago that a group of Hidden Leaf shinobi would be arriving at his office on this day.

Naturally, he first wondered if the ninja had simply gotten more direct and were sending assassins his way, a thought which very much still laid at the back of his mind. Shinobi were well known cold-blooded killers, and relations between mages and shinobi have never been great.

It wasn't until he noticed the signature scribbled down at the bottom of the page that he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't been the chairman of the council for that long, however, during his first day he was immediately informed of five shinobi who would be sending him mail on occasion that he absolutely MUST respond too. These were the five Kage.

A man named Hiruzen Sarutobi was among them. Known to be an advocate of peace between Shinobi and Mage-kind. Historically, the Hokage would seize every opportunity to improve relations between the two when possible. Conversely, most other kage were much less open to the idea, preferring to remain strictly as trade partners as opposed to actual allies.

The letter also came with a peculiar request. That being, to make use of these shinobi in whatever way the council saw fit for a year. The man had made it very clear that this meant ANYTHING, though it was also clear that the man was simply hoping that the council would be reasonable.

Oh, how wrong he was.

"Just knock, loser," a voice said from behind his office door, breaking the long-lasting silence.

"Don't tell ME what to do, Sasuke!"

"Guys..."

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

"Why are YOU acting all high and mighty?"

"Guys."

"Why're you so damn stubborn?"

"The only stubborn one here is you!"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!? O-oh... S-sakura-"

A cry in the voice of the boy who was just speaking was silenced by a resounding pound, and then a crack, followed by the shaking of the very building they were situated in. The elderly man winced at the thought of what had just transpired behind that door.

"Jeez Sakura, what'd you hit me for?"

"For being disrespectful you dunce! You're being loud!"

A series of knocks followed.

"Come... in?"

The door opened slowly, and three heads popped out from the other side. The first thing he noticed about them, was their metallic head protectors. A scowl replaced his confusion as he irritatingly brought a hand to his forehead.

To wear the head protectors signifying one's status as a shinobi, was against the law in this land. The fact that they were here standing before him, and not in a prison cell, told him that they knew this as well. Despite not having any intention of arresting them right there on the spot, the very sight of that spiral-like insignia put him in a sour mood.

"Um, is this the chairman's office?" the girl asked.

"Well duh, Sakura! Look, it says chairman on the plaque right th-" *CRACK*

"I KNOW IDIOT!"

"You children are... shinobi?"

"That's right! Born and raised in the Hidden Leaf, we're the best of the best right guys?" the boy with the large welt on his head proclaimed.

"First off," Grand Doma began, "you will keep your voices to a respectable volume. Second, it is a custom here in Fiore for guests to introduce themselves and I would suggest you do so quickly."

"Well, I'm glad you wanna know my name so ba-" the boy with the bruise was immediately silenced and toppled over by his companions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sakura Haruno, the total hotti- I mean my teammate over there is Sasuke Uchiha..." at this, her tone changed. "And the loudmouthed idiot right here is Naruto."

"That's cruel Sakura," Naruto mumbled, picking himself up.

"Stop talking before you get us arrested!"

"Hmph."

"Hmm, you're all much younger then I expected," Gran Doma stated, standing up from his chair and walking over to the trio.

Naruto wearily eyed the man and took a step back upon seeing the man eye him up and down. "Jeez old man, could you get any creepier?"

Sasuke visibly winced at this and Sakura looked about ready to pound the poor boy into submission. However, his comment simply flew over Gran Domas head, mostly due to issues with his hearing.

"Hmm, so, what happened to the fourth?"

"Err... well, funny story..." Sakura trailed off, eliciting sighs from the boys at her side.

* * *

 **One Day Earlier...**

* * *

The port town of Hargeon saw the arrival of a massive ship, followed by an equally massive influx of tourists and various other folk from overseas. The sun had begun to set, granting the normally blue skies of Fiore an almost ethereal orange light that bathed the town in a unique lighting that made the structures situated along the coastline appear to glow in the distance.

Naruto was the first of team seven to set foot on the docks, proudly shooting his arms into the sky whilst screaming at the top of his lungs. "FINALLY, LAND! SOLID LAND, I'll never take you for granted ever again!"

"Jeez Naruto, could you be any less mature?" Sakura stated before, much to his dismay, clinging to Sasuke's arm. "Why can't you be more like Sasuke?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and quickly shook his arm free. "You're both losers."

Sakura collapsed onto the ground, her head hung low with all color drained from her body.

"Hey, Sasuke, why you gotta be such a jerk!?"

"Hmph."

"THAT'S IT! I've had it up to HERE with your attitude!"

"Honestly," the voice of a fourth, a man in his mid-thirties, began as he stepped onto the pier. "It's the same scene every day. Don't you guys get tired of the same old shtick?"

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Nevermind."

Kakashi looked to the town that lay just beyond the pier. "This is it, Hargeon town. Now let's see here... ah, here we go, "Hargeon Town, known for being a thriving fishing settlement, and a fantastic tourist attraction thanks to its fantastic location along one of Fiore's finest beaches," it says. Sounds like my kind of getaway spot."

"Oh yeah, sensei, can I see that brochure?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm? Oh sure. You'll need that more then I will if you want to survive out here."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean 'survive'?"

The masked man eye-smiled, and with the snap of his fingers, his attire suddenly changed into the most casual wear the trio had ever seen on the man. His vest was now replaced with a button up shirt, his pants and ninja sandals, now replaced with brown shorts and flip-flops. As expected of the infamous copy ninja, his mask was still wrapped around the lower half of his face.

The trio of genin was left speechless.

"Well, I figured since we aren't going home anytime soon... or ever... I'll just take a (hopefully permanent) vacation!"

"WHAT!?" the trio cried in unison as their teacher turned on his heel, and started off into the town.

"Good luck you three! Try not to kill each other before you get your first assignment alright?"

"SENSEI! YOU GET BACK HERE AND HELP US DAMNIT!" Naruto cried, enraged. "HEY! WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO GO!"

Sakura collapsed to her knees once more, her expression gloomy and downcast. "We're doomed."

"Just great."

Gran Doma was speechless as he stared at the nervous expressions presented by the young teens in front of him. "Is this type of punishment... commonplace... in the land of Shinobi? Or better yet, what did you even do to get yourselves in this situation in the first place?"

Team Seven exchanged glances before stating in unison, "We got exiled."

"Exiled!? Pray tell, how did mere children manage such a feat?"

"Well... turns out it's pretty easy to do since it happened because we screwed up a D-rank mission!" Naruto joked, his laugh turning into somewhat of a whimper as he recalled the memory. "It uh... wasn't pretty."

"D-rank? As in, one of the lowest forms of mission/job, most often seen as simple gruntwork?"

"Well, it's not so much that we 'screwed it up', more like we each committed our own individual acts of treason ehe..." Sakura finished, trailing off at the memory. 'Or rather what that pig-faced Diamyo considered treason!'

Gran Doma, his interest piqued, leaned forward and asked, "So what happened?"

"Its Sakura/Naruto/Sasuke's fault." the trio said at once, causing an aura of animosity to grow between the three.

"Nuh-uh! It was totally your fault Sasuke!"

"My fault? I didn't strangle the Fire Daimyo's cat," Sasuke finished, sending a glare Sakura's way. "Did I?"

'LOOK WHAT YOU DID NARUTO! Now Sasuke's mad at me!' Sakura's inner self screamed. "D-don't look at me! I mean, who was the one who pressured us into drinking the Daimyo's prized Sake, NARUTO?"

"Hey don't pretend you never wanted to try it before! Besides, I wasn't the one who stuck it in his daughter!"

'T-THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!?' Sakura internally cried.

A faint red hue formed on Sasuke's face. "S-shut up loser."

"ENOUGH!"

The trio of genin went silent.

"So, based on the information given and your current situation, it seems as though you three were sent here to die."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on a sec there old ma-" Naruto didn't get to finish as he was immediately tackled to the ground by his teammates, resulting in the boy being bound by rope, and gagged with a cloth.

"What our abnormally loud and obnoxious teammate was trying to say was," Sakura began, taking a breath, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE WERE SENT HERE TO DIE!?"

"MMMPH, MMMPH!"

Sasuke sighed.

"Simple. I actually have a series of jobs lined up for you to complete during your stay here for the coming year. Five to be exact."

Naruto, who had somehow, miraculously broken free from his bindings, stood up and grinned. "Only five? Piece of cake!"

A dark chuckle escaped the elderly man's lips. "Foolish optimism will only get you so far in life before you end up in an early grave. These are no ordinary jobs, in fact, we reserve these specifically for our top wizards. I'll keep it short, four of these jobs will take multiple MONTHS to complete on their own, and the chances of you three surviving any one of these are slim to none."

Sakura fainted.

"Psh! You questioning our POWER old man!? BRING IT ON! I'll take on anything you throw at me!"

"We aren't allowed to refuse... are we?" Sasuke asked, being the only one to maintain his cool.

"Sure you can, but you three will remain exiles for the rest of your lives if you do."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at one another for a good long moment before turning to the elderly man and nodding.

"So... are you not taking the jobs or-"

"We accept," the duo stated just as Sakura awoke.

"H-huh? Wait a second! I DECLI-""

Gran Doma grinned. "Fantastic. Meet me here in two days for the details. I will have one of my servants arrange for some living quarters for you three. Please, wait for him in the lobby."

"Wait, why two days?" Naruto asked.

"To get yourselves acquainted with the area you'll be staying in. You three will be staying at the capital, a city called Crocus."

Sasuke nodded. "That all?"

"Yes. Now BEGONE! And don't forget to take your friend there. And clean up that drool! That carpet is worth more then your miserable lives combined!"

The train ride was rather uneventful with the most interesting thing to take from the rather brief trip being that their 'guide' was some sort of mutant frog in a dress. Team Seven stepped off the train and simultaneously turned to the servant.

"Here, I've written down the directions to where you three will be staying for the time being. Remember, in two days you will be given your first assignment, do NOT be late for your appointment!"

"Yeah, yeah, we heard you," Naruto said, taking the parchment in hand.

"Hmph! What a disrespectful brat you are!" the frog stated, eliciting an irritated stare from the blond. "Anywho, I shall be on my way. Oh and do try not to stir up any trouble while you're here ok shinobi?"

"We won't, you can count on that," Sakura said with a bow.

"No promises..." Naruto mumbled before receiving another furious strike to the head, courtesy of Sakura.

"QUIT INSULTING EVERYONE WE MEET!"

Sasuke sighed. "Ignore them. You won't have anything to worry about from us."

"Good."

With that, the frog went back onto the train along with a group of passengers leaving Team Seven, standing amid a barren train station.

"Jeez, what a freak," Naruto said, holding his arms behind his head. "That thing wouldn't even shake hands with us!"

"Naruto! Could you stop being disrespectful for one minute? At this rate, you're bound to get us in troub-"

"I agree. I wasn't too fond of that attitude of his."

"Oh so am I Sasuke!" Sakura squealed out of euphoric joy as her pupils transformed into a pair of hearts. "Hey this place is pretty romantic don't you think? Why don't we ditch Naruto and-"

"Not happening."

"Oh..." Sakura mumbled as she felt the all too familiar sting of rejection.

Naruto didn't even bother trying to catch her on the rebound this time around, mostly due to the fact that he had already received his daily head trauma. There would always be tomorrow, he figured.

"So, where we headed?" Naruto said as he unfolded the parchment. "Let's see he- hey what the hell!?"

"What?" Sasuke asked, glancing over Naruto's shoulder. "Hmm... what language is this?"

"Um," Sakura uttered before peeking over Naruto's other shoulder, "Oh I know this!"

"Wait, you know what this is Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Lemmie see that," the Kunoichi said before taking hold of the paper. "Hmm, I'm a bit rusty since I haven't had any contact with the language for at least half a year... but if I'm not mistaken, left from the station... right from the fountain... I think I got it!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there! How'd you-"

"Well," Sakura began, cutting Naruto off, "I used to study this stuff during the summer break back when we were still in the academy. Mage language is fascinating, especially since they speak virtually the same language as we do!"

"Impressive," Sasuke commented, only to immediately regret it when he found himself once again being held by his pink haired teammate.

"I'm so glad you think so Sasuke!"

"Gimmie a break..." Naruto mumbled in disappointment as he watched the interaction go down.

* * *

 **Day 2 -2 days before the first assignment**

* * *

The trio located their living quarters with relative ease thanks to Sakura's somewhat extensive knowledge on the language and found that the apartment they would be staying in wasn't too far from the station. Currently, the three were roaming the halls, in search of their new homes.

"Fifteen, sixteen... seventeen and eighteen. Looks like this is it," Sakura said.

"Man, this place looks like an even bigger shithole then my old place!" Naruto whined, crossing his arms. "Next time I see that frog, he's dead meat!"

"Could you hold off on saying things like that until we actually get INTO our apartment?"

"Doesn't seem so bad," Sasuke commented, taking one of the keys from Sakura and shoving it into the keyhole for apartment seventeen.

The door opened revealing a sight that made Naruto groan.

"Aww, what the- do all apartments have the same freaking inside!?"

"Well... it has a lot of character?" Sakura said, trying to lighten the situation.

"Hmph," Sasuke said, pushing the door further open, only for the knob to jitter a bit and eventually fall onto the floor. Paying it no mind, he continued inside, moving past the various dents in the wall and cobwebs lining the scattered vintage furniture from a bygone era.

"Yeesh, would it kill em to actually clean this place?" Naruto said, blowing on an old table in the kitchen only to be blinded by a cloud of dust. "GAH! MY EYES!"

"Something tells me we got this one for a reason," Sakura worriedly stated as she left to check out the other room.

"At least the beds look clean."

"Yeah, if by 'clean' you mean infested with dust mites and bedbugs! You're crazy if you think I'm layin on that!"

"Quit complaining."

"Alright, then Sasuke you lay on it then! Go on."

Sasuke looked glanced over at the blanket and bedsheets, noting that the bed was well made despite everything else he had seen thus far. Still, he wasn't going to take the chance and gave Naruto that small victory.

"We need to fix this place up if we're going to stay here," Sasuke said, his eye-catching movement in the corner of the room. "And clear out the pests."

"No kidding. C'mon lets burn these damn blankets and these mattresses already. Just lookin at em makes my skin crawl."

In that moment, Sakura walked in with a nervous smile on her face.

"So how was it?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty nice actually! I'm just gonna take that one!" With that, Sakura hastily grabbed her bag and key and returned to her room, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to stare in a moment of brief confusion.

"Wha- HEY SAKURA! GET BACK HERE!"

Sasuke sighed.

"Dangit!" Naruto cried before resigning to a sigh. "Well, where are you gonna sleep Sasuke?"

A scowl replaced Sasuke's normally blank expression. It was in that moment that a realization, which should've been obvious from the get-go, hit the not-so-bright Naruto.

With that, Naruto marched out of the room and began vigorously banging on Sakura's door, all the while shouting at her to swap rooms. Unbeknownst to him, however, Sakura couldn't hear his screams over the roar of the vacuum she was using to clear out the minuscule amounts of dust on her floor.

* * *

 **Been thinking about this one for a while now! So basically, the story is gonna take place over the span of a year, and as you can see, organized into days, sometimes multiple days per chapter, and sometimes multiple chapters for one day.**

 **Other than that, I went with post wave arc Team Seven because that's really the only time I could squeeze the old Team Seven into the time frame.**

 **Not much else to say so...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Day 3: Midnight**

The rest of that day was uneventful with most of that day being spent with Naruto demanding a better room from management, which they ultimately didn't receive. They did, however, manage to get new beds to replace the old ones. What remained of that day was spent freshening up the place until it resembled something akin to a half-decent living arrangement.

On the bright side, there weren't any pests trotting about so that was a plus.

Sasuke found himself turning in his sleep as he typically did after experiencing the same recurring dream that had plagued his nights for the last few years. It was more of a memory, one he loathed to remember, yet couldn't seem to escape it when he was alone with his thoughts.

This night, in particular, was rather intense for the boy, his body had broken into cold sweats, and his head throbbing with pain. He awoke with a cry and heavy breathing as he tightly grasped his head, attempting to soothe the pain that had since faded with the passing of the dream.

Naruto came bursting out of the bathroom, ninja gear fully equipped and ready to roll. "Why're you screaming! Wheres the enemy!?"

Sasuke, having regained his composure, shook his head. "Relax, its nothing."

"That scream didn't really sound like nothing. You sure its all clear? I think I heard movement from- HOLY SHIT THAT RAT IS HUGE!"

Sasuke glanced over at the bed that Naruto occupied to find a rodent the size of a football lounging on the bedsheets. Both the rat and Sasuke made eye contact for a brief moment, only for Sasuke's jaw to nearly hit the floor when he watched a kunai pierce the skull of the unwanted vermin, killing it instantly.

"Bull's eye!"

"That's... disgusting," Sasuke said, before noticing Naruto's attire. "Where are you going?"

"Gonna go exploring!"

"In the dead of night?"

"Well, you heard what old man Hokage said. The people here don't really like ninja right? So I figured now would be a great time to look around you know?"

That made sense.

"Hey, wanna come with?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You want me to come with you?"

"Well yeah, we gotta get familiar with the place since we'll be here for a year right? C'mon lets go and see what kinda crazy stuff they got out here!"

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested. He accepted the offer and immediately got ready. After a solid five minutes, the duo set off into the night, taking to the rooftops of the surprisingly lively streets of Crocus.

* * *

The duo landed atop a rooftop overlooking the lively town square. Shops, stands, and restaurants littered the area, and for every establishment there were at least a dozen plus people, depending on its size.

"Man, this place sure is busy," Naruto said, looking at the crowd down below. "Do these people even sleep?"

"No idea," Sasuke commented before turning to the massive structure looming in the distance. "Look there."

"Hmm?" Naruto glanced over to where Sasuke was pointing, having had a general idea of what he was referring to. "Oh yeah, I was looking at that place earlier. Super fancy!"

Fancy didn't even begin to describe the building. One might say that 'elegant' was the only word that could truly do it justice. Aside from being made out of a very clean looking stone-like material, its appearance was that of multiple buildings mixed and mashed together seemingly at random until it resembled something of a visual labyrinth. Sasuke could only imagine what kind of maze it contained.

Naruto thought something along the same lines, only his attention had quickly been averted elsewhere. This time, back to the crowd where he happened to catch a glimpse of an interesting scene going down.

There was a girl at one of the merchant stands who stood out by having short, white hair, an odd sight for the moment considering most of everyone on that street had a relatively normal hair color. The merchant and the girl exchanged items, the merchant, a stack of cash, and the girl, a small object that was somewhat reminiscent of a scale of sorts.

That's when he got a good look at her face.

"Naruto, look over- Naruto? Naruto!" Sasuke shout-whispered.

"H-huh?"

"Whats got into you?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-nothing! Mind your own business Sasuke!"

"Whatever, look there."

Naruto crossed the rooftop towards where Sasuke stood and peeked over the edge. A group of people dawning suits of armor were surrounding a cloaked figure, weapons drawn and glares fixated on the figure.

"Stand down Jellal! Your magic is sealed, you cannot escape! Put your hands up and this'll go a hell of a lot smoother!"

The man frowned.

"I said, hands u-" In the blink of an eye, the man was sent flying into one of the buildings by an invisible force.

The cloaked person dropped his hood, revealing a young man with short blue hair, dark green eyes and a bizarre red mark on his right eye. His expression was stoic and alarmingly cool given the current situation, reminding Naruto of Sasuke's demeanor, and Sasuke of a certain someone he wanted to forget.

"I'm afraid surrender isn't an option."

At that moment, the knights were frozen in place, encased in blocks of ice. With that, the man calmly walked out of the circle of frozen men, and started towards what the boys could only assume was the way out of the city.

Naruto watched in awe, completely starstruck, with Sasuke as he casually strolled down the street, drawing stares where possible.

"Whoa," Naruto mumbled before growing stary eyed. "That was so cool!"

"So much power. He didn't even so much as lift a finger..." Sasuke trailed off. "Mages really are something."

"Impressed by my magic boys?" the voice of a woman asked, causing the two boys to nearly tumble off the edge in shock.

The duo spun around only to be met with the smirking face of a young woman, likely in her early twenties. She too was cloaked, masking the entire lower half of her body with a thick blue fabric.

Being the pre-teen boys they were, the duo found themselves mesmerized by her appearance. She was certainly easy on the eyes.

"Mhmm, how cute. Completely speechless, lovestruck shinobi. Never thought I'd see the day where even a hint of emotion would grace the face of a ninja. Quite a rare sight indeed."

Having grown weary of the woman, Naruto drew a kunai and Sasuke closed his eyes briefly before opening them, his eyes blazing red with the presence of the legendary Sharingan.

"You two are rather aggressive."

"Who are you lady?" Naruto asked.

"And rude."

"Answer his question," Sasuke demanded.

"Hmm, Tell me, what makes you think I'm your enemy?"

"Probably the fact that you're shady as hell!" Naruto stated.

"Shady? Me? Oh, I'm just a defenseless woman who happens to enjoy a little ice sculpting, see?" Suddenly, an orb of ice manifested into her hand before assuming the shape of a thorny rose. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Totally shady!" Naruto screamed.

"Really now? I think, the only shady ones here, are you," she said, finishing with the snap of her fingers.

Just then, a vine-shaped coil composed entirely of ice shot from the ground around their feet, entrapping them both in a snare.

"What the heck!?" Naruto shouted, squirming all the while.

"Is this... ice? I can't move!"

"You know," the woman began, slowly waltzing over towards their entrapped forms. "I happen to have a bit of an issue with your kind. My past run-ins with you lot haven't exactly left a good impression, and that saying something coming from me."

The duo began to sweat nervously as they simultaneously grit their teeth.

"I should kill you two right now for even wearing those head protectors," she said as the icey vines slowly began to wrap around their necks. "But... I think seeing you both in such a helpless state and at my mercy is so satisfying that... I think I'll spare you two."

Suddenly the vines dissipated, dropping the two genin to the ground.

Naruto looked up, ready to chew her out as his natural reaction would've been, only to find her right up in his face.

"GAH!" he cried, jumping back in terror.

The woman giggled darkly. "Well, my time to play around is up. Id best get a move on or I may end up behind bars myself. Watch your back shinobi. I think it goes without saying really but... your kind isn't welcome in Fiore."

With that, the woman vanished into the darkness of the night, leaving Naruto and Sasuke behind, wondering what the heck just happened.

"Who... was she?"

Sasuke could only respond with a growl.

"Yes, guards! Up there, I saw that same ice magic materialize up there!" the voice of a citizen stated from down below.

"Thank you for your assistance. Alright men, get ready for the worst!"

No words needed to be exchanged between the two as they both had the same idea. In the blink of an eye, before the guards had even begun scaling the building, the two vanished, on route towards their apartment.

* * *

Naruto came barreling through the open window with little to no grace as he landed flat on his rear. Sasuke, on the other hand, touched down with the gentleness of a feather, a feat that often annoyed Naruto to no end.

Sasuke closed the window and took a breath. "Looks like we aren't going to be exploring tonight."

Naruto shook his head. "Guess not," he said before standing up, walking over to his bed and plopping himself on it. "Man, I really wanted to- GAH! HOLY SHIT THE RAT!" the boy cried as he lifted the corpse of the creature and chucked it at Sasuke, who quickly sidestepped and watched it sail out of the window, into the night.

"Why'd you throw it at me!?"

"What was I supposed to do? Throw it on the ground? Screw that, I just vacuumed this damn place!"

"Gah, you're such a loser!"

"I know you are but what am I?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU TWO!" the voice of Sakura resonated from the room at their side, sending shivers down their spines.

There was a brief silence before Sasuke went back to his bed and dropped himself in it, not paying much mind to the fact that he was still fully dressed. Naruto simply tossed the bloody sheet and just, back first, on the bed.

The open window let in a cool breeze that kicked up some dust particles that still lingered about, creating a thin cloud overhead. The sounds of a massive search party that had been thrown together, likely in search of the man from before, could be heard through the night.

Eventually, the noises stopped, leaving the room in utter silence.

"Hey," Sasuke began, breaking the long, soundless moment.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow morning, we're gathering information on that woman and the man she was helping."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "For what?"

Sasuke kept his gaze fixed to the ceiling. "If we ever run into her again we're screwed, you know that right?"

"Tch, she just got the drop on us! Caught us totally off guard!"

"Exactly. The fact that I didn't even sense her approach us like that... mages really are something to be feared."

Naruto frowned.

"Keep this in mind. We're probably going to be fighting mages just like her for a whole year. We're going to need to utilize every single resource available if we're gonna stand a chance at living through these assignments, especially if what the chairman said was true."

"Alright then," Naruto said, nodding. "That guy, they said his name was Jellal right? We can ask around tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded. "One more thing Naruto. Our headbands... we can't forget to leave them behind while we're here."

"Yeah... man that's so lame! I mean, do you have any idea how hard I worked to get this thing!?"

"I know its gonna be rough giving it up, I'm not fond of the idea either. But imagine if we weren't wearing our headbands earlier, or had any ninja tools on us. That woman only knew we were shinobi because we're practically wearing a sign that says as much."

"Hmm... yeah get it now."

"Tch. Loser."

"AHH! You're lucky I'm tired Sasuke!"

"Whatever. Just remember to tell Sakura in the morning. I'm going to bed."

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration before dropping his body back down and resuming his staring match with the ceiling. A solid hour passed before both boys drifted off to sleep, ready to put the night behind them and get a fresh start in the morning.

* * *

 **Day 3: Morning: Crocus Rooftops**

Sasuke stood atop the chimney of one of the many buildings around him, staring intently at the massive palace from the night before in the distance. The day had gone as smoothly as he had theorized without their headbands and gear, with the trio drawing very few heads during their time looking around the city.

It had been about an hour since they set off, giving Sasuke more than enough time to get a name on the man from the night before. Jellal Fernandes, an ex-cult leader that had infiltrated the magic council hardly a year ago. He was brought to Crocus for a public execution scheduled for today around this time when he was broken free by a mysterious woman.

No information on said woman could be found, however. Although he was, without a shred of doubt in his mind, sure that it was the same woman from the night before.

The sound of Naruto and Sakura's sandals clacking against the rooftop averted Sasuke's attention to the duo.

"You find anything out?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing you probably don't already know," Sakura stated. "Other then the name of that guy and why he was brought here, I couldn't dig up anything else."

Sasuke nodded. "What about you, Naruto?"

"Hmm... well I think I got a name for that lady that attacked us last night."

Sasuke widened an eye at this. "Really? Care to share that information?"

"Its just a rumor, but some of the guards were saying that they spotted someone that looked a lot like some ex-council member, turned criminal, in the area before that Jellal guy sprung free. Her name was... Ultear... Milk... of... witch? I dunno, her last name was weird."

"Ex-council members," Sakura began, "then, if what that traveler's guide says is true then... those two mages are some of the most powerful in all the land! You two are lucky to be alive right now!"

That stung Sasuke's pride and this was made evident by the scowl that grew on his face.

Naruto, as usual, remained either incredibly optimistic or completely clueless. One might have a hard time distinguishing the two.

"Aah, she just got lucky. Next time, I'll feed her, her own teeth!"

"Fat chance of that..."

A vein burst forth from Naruto's forehead.

"...loser."

"Shut up Sasuke! She whooped your ass too so quit trying to act cool!"

Sasuke grit his teeth, emitting a low growl upon doing so.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

The boys looked at her, surprised that she had actually shouted at Sasuke in such a manner.

"You two... look, we're... we're screwed here. COMPLETELY screwed. It's not helping that you two are constantly fighting and arguing! If this keeps up then... then we can just kiss our chances of going home... goodbye."

"Sakura..." Naruto and Sasuke both breathed in unison."

Sakura was taking their exile hard, but it hadn't yet occurred to either of the two until now as to why. When they thought about it, they had nothing to go back to both Naruto and Sasuke, no family and no real friends they desperately wanted to reunite with.

Sakura, on the other hand, left everything back at the elemental nations. Family, friends, memories, belongings... it was all gone, taken away from her with very little chance of getting it back. This was something Sasuke himself had since coped with, Naruto, on the other hand, hadn't the faintest clue what it must've felt like.

After all, he had always been alone.

"Sakura right," Naruto spoke up, surprising the other two. "We dug ourselves into a pretty deep hole together and now its gonna take the three of us to pull ourselves out of it! I'll tough it out to get us all home in one piece, even if it means teaming up with this guy over here. You can count on it Sakura!"

Sasuke nodded. "I'll tolerate him for now," he began garnering a smile from Sakura and challenging stare from Naruto. "Right now, we ought to focus on preparing for the tasks ahead. Remember, these assignments are going to be hell, and we're probably going to die out there."

Naruto and Sakura's expressions straightened into firm and serious stares.

"But if there's any chance we can get home, then we need to take this seriously. After all, we all have goals here right?"

Naruto nodded. "Right!" he cried, finishing with a toothy grin.

Sakura frowned. "Well, you and Naruto might but..."

"Your goal is to get home in one piece, right Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Uh... w-well its more of a team goal-"

"Then its settled. In order to accomplish our goals, we gotta get our asses back home!"

Sasuke cracked a faint smile before turning to look at the train station in the distance. "We don't know what lays in store for us, but, together, we should be able to overcome anything that gets thrown our way."

"Wow Sasuke, could you get any more cheesy?" Naruto commented in an attempt to push Sasuke's buttons.

Which he magnificently succeeded in doing.

A scene bearing a very 'team seven' esque fashion broke out amongst the trio with the boys arguing like usual over the usual things, and Sakura acting as the equalizer until she eventually snapped, ending the argument with two swift strikes to the boys' respective noggins.


End file.
